1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, method and program, for monitoring events occurring in a broad area, from a panorama image obtained by photographing the area while sequentially changing the photographing direction. The invention also relates to a recording medium and an imaging system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In any electronic still camera hitherto used widely, the solid-state imaging element such as a CCD converts the light coming from an object through the lenses to an image signal. The image signal is recorded in a recording medium. The image signal can be reproduced from the recording medium. Most electronic still cameras have a monitor that can display any still picture recorded and selected. In the electronic still camera, the image signal supplied to the monitor represents one image of the object. The image displayed covers only a small area. From the image it is impossible to monitor events that are happening in a broad area.
In view of this, monitor cameras are used in increasing numbers. Each monitor camera photographs an object, while the photographing direction is sequentially changed, thus providing a plurality of images. The images are synthesized into a panorama image, from which the events occurring in a broad area can be monitored. Particularly in recent years, there has been proposed the technique of reducing and combining a plurality of video signals, thus generating a one-frame video signal (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-108163). An integrated monitor/recorder system has been proposed, in which images are collected from monitor video cameras and recorded in a recording medium such as video tape, thereby to monitor a broad area (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-243062).